6. Maddox

MADDOX

" I don't know, Pres." I answer Linc honestly while I look through the office window across the clubhouse at Marie. She's at the bar with Blake and he's practically pissing circles around her. He's marking his territory like he's going to make her his old lady.

There are a few women lingering, but they look nothing like Marie. Most of them are desperate for attention and clinging onto anyone they can. It's never bothered me before, but seeing Marie all calm in Blake's embrace with an air of confidence and ease surrounding her … Well, I want that. Remembering the sounds of her begging, I adjust my hardening dick and hold back my groan.

In the clubhouse we're used to hearing and seeing all manner of fucking. But damn, hearing Blake pound into her … If I weren't worried about Blake and what the hell he's doing, I'd have made my presence known and helped her get off. And then again. I press my lips into a thin line, wondering how Blake would've acted. I glance back up at them and his arm is around her shoulder while he whispers in her ear. My eyes fall to the floor.

"He'd be stupid to bring someone from his past around. He knows the risk." I clench my teeth at Linc's words.

I speak up, "I didn't take him for a piece of shit who'd risk a girl like that." Looking back at Linc, I can tell that thought pisses him off too. It'd be fucked up to put your girl in danger. Especially when you're an undercover cop infiltrating an MC.

Why the hell would he think it's safe to get a girl? If his cover was blown–even though we already know–he would have to know that we'd use her against him. Not that we would, but some other clubs might. He shouldn't have taken the risk. I look back at Pres while he's nodding his head at my words. "I swear to God it looked like he was up to no good the way she was fighting him. No way I would've guessed they were just fucking around." I have to admit that a possessive hold ran through me when I saw that shit. I grabbed onto her like a damn lifeline while I stared my partner down. I would've knocked his ass out if I'd let go of her. I shake my head, not knowing what the fuck that feeling running through me is all about.

"None of this matches what we know about him." Linc's words come out hard and I can tell that he isn't happy that we didn't know this shit about Blake. He's like my brother. If he wasn't a cop, I'd put my life on the line for him. Shit, I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't risk my life for him now. Even knowing he's lied straight to my face. The thought makes me clench my fists tighter, turning my knuckles white. I can't help that it fucking hurts.

When he first came to us, it was like tryouts. Not that he knew. His superior sent him to us so we could see if we wanted him. If not, he'd call him off. We've had Roger in our back pocket for a while now. He told us Blake was a former marine and sniper.

Hell yeah we could use someone with his skills. Having him onboard has made deliveries run a lot smoother. Motherfuckers don't mess with you when they know they'd fall to the ground dead before their men even got their weapons out. One asshole thought he'd pull a gun on us once, fucker got a bullet in his hand before he could pull it completely out of his holster. Word gets around. Having Blake has made everything a piece of cake for the past two years. Linc's been talking about making Blake sergeant at arms for over a year now. He fucking deserves it. Except that he's a goddamn cop.

His first week, I fucked up. We're supposed to keep a low profile when we have a new prospect around, especially one that could rat us out. An asshole who wanted into the club, not even a fucking candidate yet, started smacking around one of the women. That's not something you do in our clubhouse.

She told him no and for some reason he seemed to forget what no meant. My dad didn't know what no meant either, and I got a little carried away remembering all that shit. Especially when I saw the prick backhand her so hard across the face, her lip split and she fell to the ground. I was drunk and angry. No one tried to hold me back though. They knew that asshole had it coming. I didn't stop smashing him into the wall until I heard his head crack. Didn't kill him though, just sent him into a coma. I used to have some anger issues. I'm a bit better now. A tiny bit. I was sorry for all of five minutes until Pinch told me the guy was wanted in another state for beating his last girlfriend into the ER.

Anyway, we kept waiting to hear back from Roger. Blake saw the whole thing. Helped us clean up and get rid of the prick's unconscious ass. It was only a matter of time before he said something. But weeks passed and nothing, not a fucking peep. We even told Roger to question him specifically on any violent activity. Blake never said a damn word about it. Confused the hell out of me. I liked the fucker right off the bat, but I didn't trust him.

I snicker at the thought–how the fuck could I trust a cop? I couldn't help but to question Blake about it. I asked him what he thought about what happened. He said he was glad it was me who'd grabbed the asshole because he didn't know if he'd have been able to stop. It's been a little more than a year and a half since then. Every day I like the fucker more but it pisses me off that he hasn't told us the truth. Some days I swear I just want to ask him outright and see if he'd lie straight to my face.

I stare down at the papers again. One for him and the new one, still hot from the printer, is hers. "You got her name from her ID, Pinch?"

"Yeah, too fucking easy to grab it. I gotta figure out how to put it back though. Blake's not budging an inch now that they're inside." I snort at his response and look back down at the papers. His words run through me again. Not sharing this one. A scowl grows on my face.

"Nothing links them. Not a damn thing." I shake my head. She's got to be a new girl. No way she's someone from his past. But no way she's a cop either. Pinch is damn good at what he does and if he says she's legit, then she's legit.

"He said they started seeing each other a few weeks ago?" Pres asks again.

"Technically, she did."

"But Jace didn't say shit about him sneaking around with a girl, did he?"

"Not that he told us." I shake my head.

"Get his ass in here." Linc's pissed off. I don't blame him. Pres always liked Blake, but he's also always known everything about him and what he's doing. I don't know why he hasn't told Blake that we know what he is and that we want him in our back pocket just like Roger. I'm not looking forward to the day when I'm going to have to stare down my brother and tell him I knew he'd been lying to me since the beginning.

Then again, I'd be telling that to a man who's saved my life half a dozen times and even helped kill my fucked up father and bury his abusive ass. He didn't tell his super about that either. We didn't even tell Pres. I shake off the unwanted emotions creeping up on me.

Blake's a good guy, but why the hell he'd bring a girl in fully knowing the risks is beyond me. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around that. He shouldn't have brought her around. He shouldn't have risked her. Part of me wants to go out there and kick his ass for doing that shit. But then he'd know that I know. This is so fucked.

"Yes, sir." I shoot a text over to Jace, who walked into the club a few minutes ago hammered. So much for keeping an eye on the cop.

I think back to when I caught her running from him. "For what it's worth, he looked pissed when I grabbed her. He covered it up quick," I say and let out a sigh, "but he wasn't happy that I had my hands on her."

"No shit." Linc looks at me like I'm a damn idiot. "Would you like it if another man had their hands on your girl?" I smirk. No fucking way.

"Yo, Pres." Jace barrels in the door and nods his greeting. "Veep, what's going on, guys?" He takes a seat across from Linc, to my left.

"Who's Marie, Jace?" Linc jumps right into it. He doesn't like to waste time.

"Who the hell is Marie?" His drunk ass looks confused. I shake my head and run my hands down my face. Yeah we like Blake, but Jace is supposed to watch him. He should know what's going on. The look on Linc's face tells me he agrees and he's fucking furious. He tilts his head to crack his neck on both sides and then stretches out his shoulders, all the while looking right at Jace. I can't help but smirk, hiding it behind my hand. Jace shrinks back into his seat and gains some sort of composure. The three of us and Pinch are the only ones who know Blake's a cop and we all let loose around him, but Jace should be following orders. It's his job to keep an eye on what Blake's doing. Especially since they spend nearly every day together at the tattoo shop.

"Has Blake had a girl around lately?" I ask, trying to ease some of the tension.

"No, nothing's changed." Jace looks right at me, avoiding the Pres' hard stare boring into his head.

"You're supposed to keep your eyes on him." Linc's firm voice grabs Jace's attention.

"He's patched, Pres; we were just having a few drinks."

I purse my lips. Yeah he's patched, but that shouldn't matter. We patched him last week, ‘cause, well fuck, ‘cause we like him. He's more of a brother to me than half the guys in this club. I wish Pres would just tell him we know already. It's like he has fun fucking with him. At least he was until tonight.

"I don't give a fuck if he's patched. I told you to watch him and you obviously weren't watching enough to see that he was bringing a woman around."

"If you'd told me that's what I was supposed to be watching for, then I'd have noticed. What's the deal with the chick anyway, what's she look like?"

"I don't have to tell you shit, Jace." Linc's losing his shit. I look to him and narrow my eyes. When he nods, giving me the go-ahead to take over, I lean into Jace.

"The chick's not the issue. Why the hell would he bring someone around that we could use against him if we," I wave my hands in the air and roll my eyes, "found out that he's a cop?"

Jace looks like he's contemplating an answer and then starts shaking his head as he says, "He wouldn't do that."

I give him a blank stare and point out, "He did." I gesture to the window. "He's staking his claim on her right now."

"No shit, he's gonna have an old lady?" Jace asks in wonder while leaning over to get a look.

I look right at Linc and ask, "Does he know that we know?" Before he can answer me, Jace yells out.

"No fucking way, I know her." We stare at him, waiting for him to continue. "She's friends with that chick."

My stare turns hard. Fucking Jace. "A little more specific, asshole."

"Just some chick who came in to touch up her tattoo. Her friend's name is Lexi. Hot little piece. I've been looking out for her at the bar, but she hasn't shown up yet." He clucks his tongue. After a minute he shakes his head. "He hasn't been seeing her. She came to the bar tonight looking lost and left about an hour ago, all pissed off for some reason. He was with me and didn't say a word to her the whole time."

"What the hell?"

"Yeah, there's no way she's his girl." He leans over, looking out the window again and adds, "Well, she wasn't his girl a couple of hours ago." The thought that she's not that attached to him makes me grin. It lasts only a few seconds as I realize what I'm thinking is fucked up. I can't do that to Blake. What the fuck's gotten into me?

"You sure, Jace?" He nods his head at Pres' question. "Alright then, keep an eye on him tonight. No more fucking around."

Pinch strolls in just as Jace is leaving. "Got off the phone with Roger." He plops down in a seat by the window and looks out at the main room before looking back at us to ask, "What?"

"What do you mean, ‘what?'" I can't hide my irritation. They're so fucking relaxed about this. I'm gonna end up punching one of these fuckheads in the damn jaw.

"Why are you all staring at me?" He's genuinely confused. Like we're not all waiting to hear what Blake's supervisor had to say.

"Well, what the fuck did Roger say?" I practically snarl at him, but Pinch being the psycho that he is, he just smiles at me like a fool.

"Ooh," he says and lets out his signature crazy ass laugh. I swear to God his mom dropped him on his head too many times. "I told you she's not a cop." He's all confident with a huge grin on his face. "He's never seen her or heard of her."

"Why the hell would she lie?" She said they'd been together for weeks. For some reason the thought of her lying to me hurts almost as much as Blake lying.

"The more important question is, why would he lie to us?" Pinch makes a good point. "He's never lied to us before." I tilt my head at him, giving him a pointed look. "Well, not outright to our faces."